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TO: Lead agencies and all interested stakeholders
FROM: DHS Disability Services Division (DSD) on behalf of the State Quality Council
EFFECTIVE: Immediately
PURPOSE:
To announce
that funds are available to create regional quality councils and to encourage
interested stakeholders to start to plan
CONTACT: Paj.G.Thao@state.mn.us
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The State Quality Council, in partnership with DHS, strongly
encourages stakeholders to start planning regional quality councils that will
help improve service quality for people with disabilities.
The State Quality Council
will offer two-year contracts to up to three regional quality councils
beginning in fiscal year 2016. It has a pool of up to $800,000 to give during
the first year and up to $450,000 in the second year. It will award contracts through a Request for
Proposal (RFP) process and will publish the RFP soon. There is a possibility to
extend the initial two-year contract to a five-year contract. DHS will
administer the contracts.
What does a regional quality council do?
Each council will:
- Develop and implement a quality monitoring system that
includes comprehensive person-centered quality reviews and brief interviews
with people with disabilities
- Analyze information from its region to inform a regional response to service barriers and gaps
- Set priorities to improve services based on regional strengths and needs
- Report its findings and recommendations to the State Quality Council, which will compile all regional findings and recommend system improvements to DHS.
Whom does a regional quality council include?
A regional quality council must serve an area in which at
least 2,000 people with disabilities receive home and community-based
services. That region must include at least two counties that share a border.
Each of the counties in the proposed region must be a member of the council.
The counties, however, do not need to be the council’s lead actors.
Each council must also include:
- Program participants and their families
- Advocates
- Providers
- Tribes
- Managed care organizations.
The members of each regional quality council should reflect
the cultural and ethnic diversity of the region.
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Next steps
The State Quality Council asks that you share this opportunity with others in your network.
When the RFP is published in the State Register, DHS will notify subscribers via the DSD stakeholder eList. To subscribe to the DSD stakeholder eList, visit the DHS Technical assistance page, select the “DSD stakeholder eList” bullet item and enter your email address.
Planning a regional quality council will take time and effort, so the State Quality Council encourages stakeholders to begin the process now.
State Quality Council mission
The 2011 Minnesota Legislature established the State Quality
Council. It works to improve person-directed services for people with
disabilities. The council recognizes that services and resources can vary
greatly across the state. Therefore, it has wanted to invest in a regional
approach to quality improvement since its formation. New funding from the
legislature in 2015 made this possible.
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